(08-06-2017 03:30 PM)ODU AGGIE Wrote: Ok, here's the West and the consolidated conference rankings. As we all knew they would, Rice leads the West (and the conference), and it's not even close. UTSA comes in at number two in the West, and as we anticipated and as is appropriate, UAB has the least difficult schedule in the West. A little surprisingly, Charlotte has the overall easiest OOC schedule, with UAB sliding in just ahead of them and tied with WKU. I will repeat the East rankings here just so you can see everything all together.

Ehh, don't think so. MTSU will most likely lose to Minnesota and Syracuse and very well could lose to Vanderbilt also; while WKU will likely lose to Vanderbilt and possibly also Illinois. Guess we will just have to hide and watch, but I will be surprised if together they win more than two of those five games, if any at all.

The Tops are favored in all those games even against Illinois except Vanderbilt and the margin is slim. Personally, I'm hoping the best for everybody because the conference needs it.

(08-06-2017 03:30 PM)ODU AGGIE Wrote: Ok, here's the West and the consolidated conference rankings. As we all knew they would, Rice leads the West (and the conference), and it's not even close. UTSA comes in at number two in the West, and as we anticipated and as is appropriate, UAB has the least difficult schedule in the West. A little surprisingly, Charlotte has the overall easiest OOC schedule, with UAB sliding in just ahead of them and tied with WKU. I will repeat the East rankings here just so you can see everything all together.

Ehh, don't think so. MTSU will most likely lose to Minnesota and Syracuse and very well could lose to Vanderbilt also; while WKU will likely lose to Vanderbilt and possibly also Illinois. Guess we will just have to hide and watch, but I will be surprised if together they win more than two of those five games, if any at all.

The Tops are favored in all those games even against Illinois except Vanderbilt and the margin is slim. Personally, I'm hoping the best for everybody because the conference needs it.

I am 100% with you on hoping the best for everybody, but there is a difference in hoping for the best and stating flat out that the Toppers and Raiders will win all those games. Your comment on Illinois and Vanderbilt actually pretty darn closely aligns with what I said. Anyways, here's to C-USA going undefeated in OOC play.

Affirmative. Specifically, a San Antonio private Catholic university established in 1881. They started their football program in 2009, only 2 years before we (UTSA) did. They've played two games against FBS competition so far, losing to UTEP 27-17 in 2015, and losing to Texas State 48-17 in 2016. They have Fresno State on tap this year.

As usual, there are an awful lot of conflicting opinions in the preseason.

I appreciate that site actually posting win and loss predictions for every team, but I will tell you if the Hilltoppers have an 8-4 record this year, our fanbase (and team) will be very disappointed. The bar is set even higher than last year, and there is a buzz and a giant X factor with this new coach that has me really excited. Those guys can say our team is hurting but they also made the same predictions last year to be honest when Mike White filled in Doughty's shoes. We'll see how it goes!